...and if you enjoy heartwarming, humorous stories with plenty of family drama and relatable characters in a cozy New England setting, click here!
Find your favorite reading spot
and settle in...
Dena's Books
Also available at your local Maine bookseller.
​
Don't Drop Dad is the story of Angie Donatello, a wife and busy mom of two small children who is about to realize her dream of opening an Italian bakery in her quaint coastal village in Maine when her widowed father receives a life-altering diagnosis. She is determined to care for him and keep her opening on schedule, but there doesn’t seem to be enough time, wine, or cannoli to manage the competing demands and the emotional tsunamis threatening to pull her under.
Angie’s husband is doing his best to help but is dealing with deadlines and emergencies at his construction site, and her two older sisters, a social-working nun and a corporate ladder climber, both support Angie but aren’t able to help with the heavy day-to-day demands. Consequently, her indefatigable best friend is doing everything she can to lend a hand, but equipment delays, a kitchen fire, and an over-the-top class mom all further complicate Angie’s life.
Still, Angie seems to be holding things together until she hosts her loud and lovable extended family for the traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve, and somewhere between the calamari and the sfogliatelle, her father’s very new and much younger girlfriend makes a stunning announcement. Now, Angie not only needs to help her dad cope with his declining health but must also find a way to protect his heart—and his pockets—without losing her own shot at a lifelong dream.
"Sweet-cozy-Hallmark meets impending Italian-Catholic-family disaster in this delightful story...Have a bottle of Prosecco handy as you enjoy the ride. Loved it!"
​
—KATHY ELISCU, author of Not Even Dark Chocolate Can Fix This Mess and Brain Tumor: A Love Story
About Dena
​
Born into a typical Italian family, Dena Polko grew up with her two older sisters in a home where family, food, and music, as well as weekly Mass attendance, were always front and center. With her love of music and an Indiana University business degree, Dena landed her first job working for The Cleveland Orchestra and later became the marketing director for CAPA, a non-profit operating three historic theaters in downtown Columbus. When she decided it was time for her second act, Dena earned her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She first worked with adults recovering from brain injuries but really found her lane in early intervention with Northeast Hearing & Speech. The work was challenging, but the reward of helping a child say “I love you” to his mommy for the first time was beyond compare. In addition to her clinical work, Dena continued to utilize her business expertise to manage all of the agency's marketing and public relations activities.
Dena has always enjoyed reading and writing and was constantly mulling book ideas. When one of those ideas started to keep her awake at night, she decided it was time for her next act and began writing her first novel.
Dena and her husband live on the coast of Maine and also enjoy time at “camp” (the Mainers’ term for a cottage on a lake) in the Western Maine Mountains.